Home

SCROLL DOWN

Home

Nigro Brothers Racing

Nigro Brother Racing was active from 2000 to 2006. My experience racing Karts in the late 60's and early 70's with my Dad are some of my fondest childhood memories.

In 1999 my oldest son Tommy was becoming "burned out" with baseball and football at the "ripe old age" of 11. Interested in something we could do together, I began investigating the current Kart racing scene. I had been away from it for 30 years and didn't know if it was still around. I was please to find that it is a thriving, although obscure sport.

I purchased a used chassis and engine and Tommy and I began to practice at the Liberty (MO) kart track. I had raced on this track as a kid. The equipment and technology was far advanced from my time in Karting. Besides, I never really knew the mechanical side. All I did was drive! I found that we both had a lot to learn before actually entering our first race.

We practiced for an entire year before entering a race. During that year I purchased a Kart for my 7 year old son Mario. The class is called "Kid Kart" and is designed for drivers 5-8 years old. It is a scaled down version of a full sized kart with a 50cc 2 cycle engine capable (in unrestricted form) of speeds up to 45mph. Mario began practicing as well.

That first season Tommy recorded: 8 - First Place, 1 - Second Place, 1 - Third, 1 - Fourth Place to become the KCKA (Kansas City Karting Association) Club Champion in Junior 2 Yamaha. This was a big accomplishment. Mario competed in 11 races and did very well. At the time, Kid Kart results were not recorded. That changed the next season.

The following year, Tommy and Mario completely dominated their respective classes. This was fun at first but towards the end of the second season we began to wonder what was out there on the regional and national scene.

Team

Team

Drivers

Tommy Nigro

Click the image to enlarge

Date of Birth: 08/24/89Age BeganRacing: 11Classes Raced: Yamaha Junior SSX, HPV Jr, Formula Y Jr, TaG Sr.Chassis: KRT, MargayEngine Builders: Hi-Rev Engineering / Woltger Racing EnginesSponsors: Village Gardens, Kart Racing Technologies International / Hi-Rev Engineering, Fairfield Motorsports, M&H GasFavorite Driver: Ayrton Senna Favorite Racing Memory: Winning the points championship at my home track 2 years in a row, my first Midwest Sprint Series win at Norway, my second place finish at the KART Nationals in Norman, OK, winning the first heat of the first race ever run on the new track in St. Louis (SLKA).Racing Goals: To develop as a driver and learn more about chassis setup and engine tuning. Eventually earn a WKA National title.Interests outside Racing: Paintball, Basketball, skateboarding and hanging with my friends

Mario Nigro

Click the image to enlarge

Date of Birth: 09/21/94Age Began Racing: 6Class Raced: Yamaha Jr. Sportsman, HPV Jr. SportsmanChassis: Margay Brava 1.2Engine Builder: Hi-Rev Engineering / Woltger Racing EnginesSponsors: Village Gardens, Fairfield Motorsports, M&H GasFavorite Driver: Mario AndrettiFavorite Racing Memory: Winning 7 of 8 heats in Denton, TX at the KART Nationals to become the 2002 KART Kid Kart National Champion.Racing Goals: To continue racing karts, learn more about being a better driver, how my kart works and move up the ladder to new classes.Interests outside Racing: Watching the Disney Channel over and over and over...

Noah Nigro

Click the image to enlarge

Date of Birth: 08/18/97Age Began Racing: 5Classes Raced: Kid Kart, TaG 60Chassis: TonyKart Micro, BirelEngine Builder: Fairfield MotorsportsSponsors: The Village Gardens, Fairfield Motorsports, M&H GasFavorite Driver: My brothers Mario and TommyFavorite Racing Memory: When I went off the track during practice in St Louis and went through a 10 inch deep water puddle. I got wet all the way down to my skivies, and it was cold ! I love to drive my TonyKart Micro and have my Grampy for my pit man.Racing Goals: Try to stay out of 10 inch deep water puddles while driving my Kart.Interests outside Racing: Soccer, building Legos, playing in my sandbox, Going to my Mimo's house to spend the night, rollerblading and last, but certainly not least, driving my Mom nuts!

MWSS Elkhart Lake 2002

SLKa august 2002

I-55 SS Springfield 2003

Liberty June 2001

KCKA Banquet 2002

mwss dousman 2002

SLKA May 2003

Daytona Kart Week 2003

liberty march 2002

Daytona 2002

Track challenge springfield

Mid-Season awards liberty

K.A.R.T. Nationals 2003

History

History

History

The image above shows a group of karters in the Rose Bowl parking lot (Pasadena CA) in 1957. This was possibly the first group of karters ever to assemble.

Karting came into existence in the late 1950's as a hobby. Art Ingels, Duffy Livingstone and a few individuals doing some impromptu racing in a parking lot of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Roy Desbrow, a business partner of Duffy Livingstone, had constructed a kart that was called the "Drone". It was so named because it was powered by a 250cc engine originally used in a U.S. Army radio controlled drone airplane. Kart racing today is the entry level to a Motorsports career as well as a fun and challenging family oriented hobby/sport. Most of today's top drivers, in all forms of Motorsports, got their start in a Racing Kart. Very few of tomorrows racing stars will reach the top levels of the sport without having spent time in a Race Kart. Karting is the first rung on the Motorsports career ladder.

Racing Karts, unlike their backyard fun-kart cousins, are purpose built, relatively complex, high performance racing machines. They are far from toys. Like any Motorsports, Karting is a team sport. From tow vehicles, trailers, tools, tires and spares to marketing, preparation, strategy, patience, knowledge, courage and driving skills all the components needed to run BMW Motorsports or Penske Racing are required of a successful Kart Racing effort. Just on a smaller scale. The skills learned by young drivers will serve them well in whatever path they may choose in life.

Probably the most important attribute of Karting is the family aspect of the sport. In the Junior classes and even the Senior classes (16 & up) the family is a integral component of any successful team. From the science of chassis tuning, engine management, tire changing, to data acquisition, record keeping, loading, unloading and keeping everyone fed and watered Karting definitely requires a team to function.

Tom Nigro (Grampy) at the American Royal Arena 1959

T.J. Nigro, at the American Royal Arena, Kansas City, MO winter 1960

In the early 60's my Father and Uncle would rent the American Royal Arena in the winter in order to hold indoor dirt oval kart racing. They did this for 3 winters.

The American Royal Arena is an indoor venue for Livestock shows, auctions, and Rodeo's. The Arena is located in the west bottoms of Kansas City, MO in what was once a thriving livestock exchange. The Arena still exists but has been completely rebuilt and modernized.

The Brothers would first have to remove the tan bark (like heavy sawdust or fine mulch) that was used on the floor of the arena. Then they would haul in 120+ loads of dirt, bringing dump trucks through narrow passages to construct the banked track on the arena floor. When the 3 month season was over the dirt would have to be removed and the tan bark re-installed, like they do for Monster Truck races today held in sports arenas. The races were held on Saturday nights.

They would advertise on TV for these events and actually draw 1500+ spectators! The weekly events would draw drivers from all over the Midwest and a few from as far away as California where Karting was born. Many Midwest Midget and Sprint Car drivers would race Go-Karts in these events to get their racing "fix" through the winter. They would get 150+ entries and have to turn drivers away because the pit area, which was in the livestock holding area adjacent to and BELOW the track, would not accommodate more. The drivers that were pitted on the level below the track would drive up spiraling ramps to get to the arena floor.

There were single engine classes as well as double and TRIPLE engine classes, all 2 stroke. It was basically "run what you brung", few rules, and I'm told the racing was wild! Fistfights and ejections were the norm. There were no classes for kids or by age for that matter. Just by how many engines you had bolted on! It was extremely loud.

The ultimate demise of the thing was (A) trying to heat the place and (B) advertising.

Even by late 50's and early 60's standards it was expensive to heat the large building. With all the 2 cycle engines the building would quickly become filled with smoke. huge exhaust fans would be turned on to remove the smoke and the heat would go out with it.

No advertising (newspaper, TV), no spectators. Entry fees alone could not offset the cost of renting and heating the building, paying the Pit Steward, Announcer, Flagman and other assorted help. When they advertised it ate up all the profit. No profit, no eat dinner, thus the enterprise died.

Speaking of enterprise, my Dad and his Brother also had the bright idea of manufacturing Go-Karts which they tried for a while. That also flopped.